Rest Of My Life
by Knight Fallout
Summary: To him it had been a year, but to everyone else it had been over two hundred. He still wasn't going to let the apocalypse get in the way of him celebrating Christmas with the one he loves. M!SS/Danse. Possible spoilers. One shot.


The tray I was holding wobbled precariously as I tried to open the bedroom door with my elbow. I managed to get it open without spilling anything, which was good, since I didn't fancy being scalded by coffee for the second time in two days. Nora was struggling to get up out of bed, being heavily pregnant. She stopped, and looked at me oddly.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Breakfast or at least the best I could do. Merry Christmas, darling," I said. She smiled, and sat upright in the bed. I laid the tray across her lap, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing out of the room again to get my own food. I sat next to her, giving her a hopeful look as she started eating the omelette I'd made.

"It's great, thank you," she said, though the somewhat strained smile on her face told me otherwise. She looked down at the tray, and raised her eyebrows as if she'd just noticed the small wrapped present. "Can I open it now?"

"Yes, of course. It's not much, but with the move and everything, I haven't had a lot of time." I bit my lower lip, suddenly worried that she might not like it. Even if she absolutely hated it, she'd still tell me that she loved it, but I'd gotten too good at reading her to be fooled. She waited until after finishing her food and coffee to pick it up.

She smoothed the paper, and read the tag, smiling slightly. "You'll be happy to know I've got you something as well, but you're going to have to find it."

"Please tell me I won't have to tear the house apart searching for it; I just got everything the way it should be." I crossed my legs, and clasped my hands in my lap. Nora laughed softly at me.

"You're such a child sometimes." She shook her head, and slowly prised the wrapping paper off her present. She tilted her head to one side as she looked at the navy velvet box, and I watched her face closely as she lifted the lid. Her mouth fell open, and she slid the diamond ring out of its slot.

"Do you like it? I know you already have a ring, but I wanted you to have something special. The diamond's not too big is it? I know you don't like big, flashy jewellery but-" I began to burble, but I was cut off by her kissing my lips.

"I _love_ it, Dexter, and I love you too." She put the tray to one side, and shifted so she was facing me. "Put it on me," she said, holding her left hand out. My own hand was shaking as I slipped the ring onto her finger. It seemed a little big, but she insisted that it was a perfect fit, and it was perfect, and so was I.

"I don't know _how_ I'm going to top that next year." I laughed shakily.

Nora took hold of my hand, and placed it on her stomach. "By next year, we'll have the best present of all. Our Shaun."

"I'm going to try and be the best dad to him, I swear," I whispered, blinking rapidly as I tried not to cry. "I'm never going to let anything bad happen to him, or you. We'll be a family, no matter what happens."

I ran towards the building as it came into view, hoping that nothing was in the area to notice me. My arm was bleeding slightly after a run in with some raiders, but it wasn't anything too serious, and I'd be able to bandage it up when I was inside. I kicked part of the destroyed Protectron out of the way when I walked over to the elevator, wondering why I'd never moved it. It was cold in the elevator, as it was in the whole building, and I reminded myself to get more practical winter armour.

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened, and I stepped out carefully. "Danse? It's Dexter," I called out, looking around the underground bunker of Listening Post Bravo. Danse was standing at the power armour frame, shining his X-01 suit.

"Did you get what you were looking for?" he asked, not tearing his eyes away from what he was doing.

"Yeah," I said, and set my laser rifle down on a desk. I exhaled heavily as I started taking my armour pieces off. "Do you know what day it is?"

"If I'm honest, I tend to lose track of time when you're not around. Is it something important?"

I checked my Pip-Boy, just to make sure. "It's Christmas." I neatly arranged my armour pieces, and then went to the first aid kit to get some bandages, and sat down as I attended to my wound. "Do you celebrate it?"

"They never really made a big deal of it in the Brotherhood." He finally turned around to look at me. "I take it you do."

"Yes, though I only started liking it after I left home." I rolled my sleeve down once I was finished bandaging, and looked down at the floor. Things were significantly easier when I didn't think about the past, but sometimes I couldn't help the thoughts creeping into my head, especially now I'd defeated the Institute and was lacking any clear direction to go in.

Danse grabbed a chair, and sat next to me. "Did you have a problem with your family?"

"It was me who was the problem. My dad and my sisters were very nice, and intellectual. For my youngest sister's eighth birthday we went to the library. I was always very different from them, and just plain difficult."

"What about your mother?"

"She died when I was young."

He reached across and patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine; it was a long time ago. Over two hundred years, in fact." I shook my head, and smiled slightly. "But enough of that. I have something for you, a present actually."

"If you'd have told me, I could've got you something," he said, trying to mask the eagerness on his face.

I had to stand up to get it out of my pocket. I held it tightly in my hand, and sat down again. "Hold out your hand," I said, and he did, though a little unsurely. I held my hand above his, and opened it, letting what I was holding fall onto his palm. He stared at the diamond ring in shock. It was chipped, and rusted, but it was somehow fitting.

He opened and closed his mouth, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I-I don't understand," he said eventually.

"I gave it to Nora, my wife, on the last Christmas we spent together," I said quietly.

"I thought you said you sold it."

"I had. I've spent the last two weeks hunting it down. But it was worth it, for you." I looked him in the eyes, though I started blinking faster, well aware of the tears forming. "Danse, I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

He leaned across, and wrapped his arms around me, and whispered in my ear, "I love you too. And we'll always be together, no matter what happens."

* * *

 **I _had_ to do something Christmas related, and it was made all the more easier by Christmas being celebrated in Fallout 4. And I wanted to do something fluffy, because damn it my characters deserve nice things once in a while.**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and happy Christmas.**


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